/format/jpg”>
The China Silk Museum held a “National Silk and Hanfu Festival” pop-up event.
/format/jpg”>
Han Dynasty loom model.
/format/jpg”>
Exterior appearance of China Silk Museum. The above pictures are all provided by China Silk Museum
The museum is a bridge connecting the past, present and future. Each exhibition area and each collection bear witness to history, draw lessons from history and inspire future generations. Thematic museums have become popular among visitors in recent years and have become a new trend. These museums record the civilizational achievements of the Chinese nation in the long history, and demonstrate the achievements and glory of the Party leading the people to unite and strive to build a modern socialist country.
——Editor
The water is shining and the vegetation is lush. Walking from the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, you enter Yuhuang Mountain Road. The noise around you gradually calms down. About 1 kilometer later, the China Silk Museum appears in the jungle. The China Silk Museum, officially opened to the public in 1992, is the largest textile and apparel museum in the world that integrates collection, research, inheritance, and display. Walking into the museum, the Silk Road Hall, Intangible Cultural Heritage Hall, Restoration Exhibition Hall, Fashion Hall and other buildings are unique.
Silk, with its unique charm, brilliant colors and rich cultural connotation, originated in China, has written a splendid chapter for Chinese civilization and has become a moving symbol of the construction of a cultural power.
7cm silk thread tells the history of silk for thousands of years
The color is black and the threads are intertwined. When entering the Silk Road Museum, a small ball of silk threads is particularly eye-catching. Ji Xiaofen, director of the China Silk Museum and researcher at the Zhejiang Silk and Fashion Culture Research Center of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, said that this was the silk thread unearthed during the third excavation of the Qianshanyang site by archaeologists in 2005. “This group leader is about 7 years old.” Centimeter-long silk thread is the earliest silk product discovered in the Yangtze River Basin so far, indicating that sericulture, silk reeling and silk weaving techniques existed in the Yangtze River Basin between 4400 and 4200 years ago.”
China is the birthplace of silk in the world. It is famous for the invention of mulberry planting, silkworm rearing and silk reeling and weaving technology. It is known as the “Silk Country”.
Archaeological excavations in modern times have proven that as early as more than 5,000 years ago, the ancestors living in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins had completed the historical process from domesticating wild silkworms to reeling and weaving silk after a long and arduous exploration. It became more and more blurred and forgotten, so she had the idea of going out. The original sericulture and silk industry was established.
Looking back at the important stages of the development of silk communication, they are all inseparable from technological progress. In the exhibition hall, a jacquard machine model of the Western Han Dynasty unearthed from the Han Dynasty Tomb in Laoguanshan, Tianhui Town, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan, has become a physical evidence of the transformation of silk technology. “In addition to a batch of loom models unearthed from the Laoguanshan Han Tomb, there were also 15 painted wooden figurines. It was speculated from the posture and inscriptions that they might be… But she understood everything in an instant. Wasn’t she just sick in bed? It is natural that there will be a bitter medicinal smell, unless those people of the Xi family really want her to die. This is a simulated reproduction of the weavers in the Shu Brocade Textile Factory of the Han Dynasty. This batch of jacquard machine models is the only one that has been found in my country and is complete. The Han Dynasty loom model has filled the gap in the history of world textiles and is of great significance to the study of the origin and development of silk textile technology in China and even the world. “Ji Xiaofen said that during the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, China’s silk production became increasingly popular and the production areas expanded, especially for silk. Weaving technology has developed greatly, and the pedal loom that uses the foot to control the opening of the loom and the jacquard machine that uses special programs to control the lifting rules of the warp have emerged, forming the classical technical system of Chinese silk.
The opening of the Silk Road undoubtedly has historic significance for the development of silk.
A brocade with a red ground winged horse pattern, 52 cm long in the warp direction and 51 cm wide in the weft direction, is displayed in a prominent position in the exhibition hall. There are three rows of winged horses remaining in the pattern, each horse is about 19 cm high and 15 cm wide. The three horses in the middle row go to the right, the two horses in the upper row and the three horses in the lower row all go to the left. “The shape of the horse is a typical Sasanian Persian style.” Li Qizheng, Secretary General of the International Silk Union and researcher at the Zhejiang Silk and Fashion Culture Research Center of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, said that the winged horse pattern that appeared from the late Northern Dynasties to the early Tang Dynasty was based on Greek mythology Pegasus in . From the Mediterranean, Central Asia to China’s Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and other northwest regions, many winged horse brocade objects have been unearthed, indicating that it was widely spread along the Silk Road.
With shoulder-length cassocks, flying long skirts, and dense clothing patterns… the restored Dunhuang Cave 322 in the exhibition hall makes the audience feel as if they are actually there.In this environment, you can feel the beauty of silk blending. Xu Zheng, a research librarian at the China Silk Museum, said that the silks of the Sui and Tang Dynasties showed a different style of combining Chinese and Western styles, both in terms of production technology and artistic style. From the 1960s to the 1990s, cultural relics from the Mogao Grottoes were unearthed in batches, including a large number of exquisite silk fabrics.
The history of silk continues. A Sulu single garment unearthed from the Zhou family’s tomb in De’an, Jiangxi became the “I’ll go in and have a look.” A tired voice outside the door said, and then Lan Yuhua heard the door being pushed open. “Dong dong” sound. It is a witness to the silk revolution in Song Dynasty. This piece of clothing commonly used by young women in the Song Dynasty is made of Su Luo fabric. What is particularly eye-catching is that there is a button in the middle of the front placket. This is also one of the earliest physical buttons found in my country. Ji Xiaofen said that the Song and Yuan Dynasties implemented “equal emphasis on agriculture and commerce” and an open maritime policy, which made silk circulation, especially overseas trade, more common and frequent. The Maritime Silk Road replaced land routes as the main way of foreign trade.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the opening of new sea routes, a large amount of exquisite Chinese silk was directly exported to Europe and America on an unprecedented scale, and became one of the important factors in the “China fever” in Europe in the 18th century. Purple tapestry dragon robes, scarlet silk robes with eight dragons embroidered in gold, yellow satin embroidered cloud and dragon court robes…the exhibition hall is full of dazzling Qing Dynasty costumes with exquisite workmanship, which have become witnesses of the development of silk in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
China’s silk industry forms a mechanized technology system
Smokey willows hang down the embankment, waves flash, mulberry silk is used as the longitude, and artificial silk is used as the weft. The interlacing longitude and latitude present the misty and rainy West Lake. This craftsman’s painting of the West Lake combines traditional jacquard craftsmanship with Hangzhou scenery, becoming a testament to a major innovation in modern silk weaving technology.
The exhibition board shows the silkworm seed improvement practices in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai with pictures and texts. From the late Qing Dynasty to the late 1920s, I had nowhere to go if I opened this place. I could go, but I don’t know where to go. “, so I might as well stay. Although I am a slave, I have food, housing and a living here. Through the improvement of silkworm breeds, the introduction of new education, new looms, the application of artificial raw materials and Western printing and dyeing techniques, China’s silk industry has gradually After completing the modernization process, the Taihu Lake area has formed a mechanized technology system that is completely different from the traditional manual system.
Get rid of the unreasonable old-fashioned design of traditional cheongsam, and adopt Western-style clothing design concepts. The plants, flowers, architectural scenery, and geometric figures on the robe are all colorful. In the exhibition hall, each piece of cheongsam from the Republic of China period allows the audience to appreciate the brand new silk dyeing and weaving art style of the Republic of China. Xu Zheng said that in the 1920s and 1930s, the unique style of improved cheongsam left the mark of the widespread use of traditional patterns in the Republic of China and the popularity of Western patterns.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China’s silk industry has undergone major changes in terms of mulberry varieties, silk reeling, silk weaving, printing and dyeing finishing, production management, and process equipment. Silk has become an important foreign trade product for the country. Since the 1970s, almost Dominates the front end of the world’s silk industry chain. ChinaSilk is also being used more and more in all aspects of people’s lives, moving towards a broader world.
In the exhibition hall, a spiral-shaped tubular fabric aroused people’s curiosity. Ji Xiaofen said that this is a piece of textile artificial blood vessel. When the human blood vessels have disease or trauma, artificial blood vessels of corresponding caliber can be connected to save the patient’s life. “In 1974, Suzhou Silk Sample Factory cooperated with Shanghai Chest Hospital. In 1979, a woven polyester plush artificial blood vessel was successfully developed and used clinically with good results. The invention won the 14th Geneva International Invention Gold Medal.”
The delicate depiction, rich layers, and clear ink, using silk thread to accurately outline the beautiful scenery of Fuchun Mountain, not only reproduce the charm of the pen and ink of the famous painting, but also make the masterpieces handed down from ancient times separated for hundreds of years achieve a perfect reunion under the interpretation of Chinese brocade. In the exhibition hall, a long colorful digital brocade scroll – “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” is presented to the audience, becoming a representative of the development of contemporary silk technology.
Since the 1990s, the popularization and application of electronic jacquard machines and computer-aided pattern design systems have greatly improved the design freedom of silk weaving patterns. Digital simulated color silk weaving technology breaks through the traditional concept that one color represents an organization. If red and yellow are used, she opens her eyes, the bed curtain is still apricot white, and Lan Yuhua is still in her unmarried boudoir. This is after she falls asleep. On the sixth day, five days and five nights later. On the sixth day of her life, five kinds of silk threads, blue, black and white, were intertwined, which could theoretically produce 4,500 color relationships, thus giving traditional silk paintings a new look. This technology won the National Technology Invention Award in 2003.
After the reform and opening up, China’s silk industry developed rapidly. In the late 1980s, it entered a golden age amid the silk boom in the international market. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it entered the era of automated electronic information. At the end of the 20th century, through the reform of the state-owned enterprise system and the implementation of measures such as “moving east to west” and “adjusting structure, creating brands, and promoting upgrading”, Chinese silk came out of the trough, and traditional silk was integrated into contemporary fashion design elements and regained its splendor.
Tell the story of Chinese Silk and the Silk Road
Li Qizheng said that since Leizu first taught people how to raise silkworms and reel silk to make clothes, silk has become a symbol and an important part of Chinese civilization. By the Han and Tang dynasties, the Silk Road ran from east to west and stretched thousands of miles. Chinese silk products, with their elegant, soft and elegant noble attributes and unique beauty of ingenuity and exquisiteness, are popular in the East and West and are famous throughout the world. They have had a profound impact on the development of human history and world culture.
In 2013, the major initiative of jointly building the “Belt and Road” was formally proposed. The ancient Silk Road unfolds a new picture.
Li Qizheng said that under the guidance of silk civilization and culture, the silk industry has once again ushered in a new historical development period. The “Migration of Mulberry from East to West” was successfully implemented, and the sericulture and silk industry became a key industry for poverty alleviation and development in Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places at that time; China took the lead in formulating and implementing the first international standard for silk; “Bombyx Silk Gland Biological Reaction”Innovative silk technologies and extended industries such as “silk double-sided digital printing” and “medical silk materials” are constantly emerging.
Chinese clothing, with Chinese silk as the main body, is not only based on the local area, but also combined with international fashion trends, gradually moving from nationalization to internationalization. The Fashion Hall of China Silk Museum explains the development of Chinese neon clothes. In the exhibition hall, clothing designs by Chinese designers are displayed one after another, empowered by new technologies, integrating Eastern and Western art, and demonstrating cultural confidence. Embroidered decorations are integrated into the cheongsam to show the gorgeousness, and the colorful embroidered belt and jade pendant around the waist show the solemnity. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games awards dress is not only an innovation of the traditional cheongsam, but also incorporates the meaning of China’s excellent traditional culture. Using traditional weaving, needle punching and printing and dyeing techniques, it presents the lightness and elegance of “Heaven”. The “Heaven” series of show clothes unveiled at the China Pavilion at the 2015 Milan World Expo inherits traditional textile and printing and dyeing techniques, and uses modern three-dimensional cutting and 3D molding technology. And a large area of hand acupuncture technology is used to produce an ink painting-like effect.
Silk repair technology is another business card of the China Silk Museum. In the Restoration Technology Museum, “Fengxian Clothes and Crowns: Exhibition of Restoration Achievements of Textiles Unearthed from the Ming Dynasty Tombs of Yangjiaqiao in Puyuan, Tongxiang” displays for the first time 12 textile cultural relics unearthed in Puyuan Town, Tongxiang, Zhejiang and restored by the China Silk Museum. With the China National Silk Museum as the backing unit, it has established a key scientific research base of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for the protection of textile cultural relics, and has undertaken a large number of textile archeology, protection, and research projects in countries and regions co-constructed by the “Belt and Road”, such as the silk unearthed from the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, the North Caucasus of Russia, Regional cooperation in textile archeology, etc., and initiated the establishment of the Silk Road Cultural Relics Science and Technology Innovation Alliance.
Ji Xiaofen said that in the future, the China Silk Museum will innovatively create a dual-museum model of “Silk Museum + Sericulture and Silk Weaving Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum”, with “Silk Road Week”, “Chinese Silk Hanfu Festival” and “Chinese Silk Global Showcase” Special brands such as “Mosang China” strive to tell the story of Chinese Silk and the Silk Road, and constantly polish the golden business card of silk culture.
Our reporter Wang Jue